Since the launch of our first Your Shot assignment last spring, we’ve published ten stories of your pictures ranging from night photography to foodscapes to the changing world around us. In this assignment, we asked you to tackle perhaps the most personal of subjects: your own families.

With the nearly 7,000 images submitted, you shared with us your most private worlds, relationships, and stories, and for that I thank you. The pictures were made compelling by how many of you brought emotion to your photographs. The authenticity of the moments and people in your submissions was what made this assignment meaningful.

I love this portrait because it really connects the viewer to the subject in a close, real way. The tightness of the frame and simplicity of the background draw you into the man’s eyes and express... More

Ben FitchAssociate Photo Editor, Traveler Magazine

According to tradition, the man in front, the groom, is shaved by the godfather with a knife and ...

The 16 images I’ve selected for this story capture many of the facets of family life that we can all relate to. The passing down of traditions and wisdom between generations and the unwavering loyalty between family members were a couple of these universal themes I saw in many of your pictures. I was drawn to the pictures that were not only technically well executed and creatively framed, but those that captured genuine moments and illustrated the notion of family in an unexpected way.

This portrait of an aging couple is powerful and beautiful in the way it captures the relationship between the two subjects. Because of the caption we know the husband died shortly after the pictu... More

Ben FitchAssociate Photo Editor, Traveler Magazine

Thank you, again, to all who submitted pictures to this assignment. Collectively, your images have created a family album of sorts that represents not only the Your Shot community as a whole but the greater world of families outside it as well.

Although there were many great pictures submitted to this assignment, not all could fit within the story. Look out for a post on our Your Shot blog where I will be featuring some of my favorite images not selected for the story!

After earning a degree in Journalism and Art History in 2011, Ben Fitch set out on a journey to pursue photography that took him from Boston to Santa Fe to New York and eventually to the steps of National Geographic in Washington, DC. Prior to his current role editing photography ...